Harrisburg is a place of comings and goings.
Recently, the city lost two wonderful 20-somethings to the winds—TheBurg’s former city reporter Lizzy Hardison, who departed for Texas, and our former feature writer Yaasmeen Piper, who now makes New York her home.
Over the past few years, we’ve lost several other wonderful young reporters to the Big Apple. Harrisburg’s loss, Gotham’s huge gain.
In a way, that’s the nature of capital cities—young people come, stay awhile and then move on to opportunities in other places.
Some have relocated just across the river, while others have moved to other states, even other countries. I’ve lost count of the number of people I once saw regularly about town—shopping at the Broad Street Market, having coffee at Little Amps—who now exist only in a memory.
Harrisburg is better for having had them, and I hope they feel the same about the little city where they spent a few years of their young lives.
My apologies for the nostalgia. August can make me that way, as the summer deepens and sparks so many memories of my own youth spent on beaches, in shared houses, at temporary jobs, thinking about the life ahead.
Speaking of young people—our August issue typically shares a thread of stories devoted to youth and schools, and so it is this year, as well. Among these pages, you’ll find stories about local teachers, schools, programs, etc., among our regular mix of community features, food, culture and the great outdoors.
Before I go, I have to note one more departure.
About six years ago, we ran a story about “office pets,” and, in this space, I mentioned that TheBurg had our own office pet—a wonderfully gentle, ridiculously friendly Rottweiler and Golden Retriever mix named Bernie.
Bernie was the sidekick of our creative director, Meg, which is how he came into our lives. When Meg brought him into the office, the world (and the work) would stop as he scampered about, moving from desk to desk. If someone stopped stroking his long, soft fur, he’d happily move along to the next person and lean against them until he got his quiet, panty way.
In June, Bernie passed away after a long, content dog life spent with Meg and, on occasion, with us, too. We were awfully lucky to have him. He helped make our lives a little bit better, which is the most, I think, that a person can ask of anyone, or any dog.
Lawrance Binda
Co-Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Click here to read our August issue.
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